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Downbelow Station - by C.J. Cherryh
The kind Konstantins run the neutral Pell station with fairness and
respect, but we are led into the situation through the lens of people
who distrust them so it takes a few chapters for us to really get the
picture - cleverly enough. The peaceful alien hisa race is
fascinating, and serves as both a useful foil against the aggression
and scheming of man, as well as a useful study in alien contact from
an author schooled in those applicable studies. Captain Mallory is a
convincing chaotic neutral, and the reading audience is likely left
divided by the end as to who loves and who hates that character. The
Union special agent Josh is another well constructed figure, possessed
of unearthly good looks and a bag of hidden talents - he was an
interesting touchstone to come back to throughout the events in the
book, and no doubt will be expanded upon in subsequent visits to this
universe.
Cherryh's "intense third person" is a really fascinating style, giving
us experiential detail from the perspective of the current main
character, leaving out things that character would not realistically
remark upon.
A long and engrossing read, with more characters than you could shake
at with a stick, though still leaving some details wanting as I
suppose even the best read will. I found this book sucked me in from
the very first page - the description of humans going to the stars,
the rapid expansion and sudden problems it brought were delightfully
believable and right in the sweet spot of pondering I like to have on
frequent occasions. I knew we were in for a grand space opera, and
that was just what the doctor ordered on this cold March. While much
of the book rapidly condenses from the scale and sweep of interstellar
growth and intrigue to a single space station and it's associated
world, I still found the issues and events to be engaging and well
developed, and saw clearly why this is regarded as a landmark book and
winner of the 1981 Hugo.
I'm interested to read more of Cherryh's work, especially from this
universe, so I can see what more she has planned for a cast of truly
well developed and interesting characters.
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